Chinese New Year

2083 Words9 Pages
Chinese New Year Xingze Dong (The characters in the picture stand for the Spring Festival by Nong) Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China. The festival begins on the first day of the first Chinese lunar month and ends 15 days later in the traditional Lantern Festival. Among the 15 days, the most important ones are the New Year’s Eve and the three days that follows. Like Christmas, the Chinese New Year is a time full of optimism and joy. The lively atmosphere of New Year not only fills every home, but also pervades the streets and lanes. Chinese New Year is now celebrated throughout the world. It is an official festival in China. Though many countries don’t take Chinese New Year as an official festival, grand celebrations can be seen in big cities’ Chinatowns and among Chinese immigrants all around the world during the festival. The Legends The Twelve Zodiacs The Chinese lunar calendar has been used for centuries. The Chinese government started to use the International Calendar, which is used by most countries of the world, on the founding of the Republic of China in 1912. There are 12 animals that symbolize each of the 12 years, and they are called the Chinese Zodiac. The twelve Chinese Zodiacs are mouse, cow, tiger, rabit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. The 2012 Chinese New Year will begin on Monday, January 23rd. It will be the year of dragon in the Chinese lunar calendar. There are many myths that related to the twelve Chinese Zodiacs. Here’s the most interesting one. In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan wanted to pick twelve animals to be his guards. All animals then had a race to decide who would be the guards. Finally, the ranks came out, and the first twelve were mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig.
Open Document